Beyond the Rain
by Quatrina Raberba
Summary: *PRE OLS* Jim's feeling depressed...can Gene cheer him up?


Disclaimer: Nope, nope. I don't own 'em at all.   
  
Yet again, this takes place BEFORE OLS. Jim's just turning 10...  
  
Beyond the Rain  
  
Perhaps it was just the gray overcast. Or maybe it was the dull tapping against the window, in all of its stubbornness; it refused to cease. Nostalgia seemed to fill him on days such as these. The whole world seemed to cry. They used to be tears of pleasure, but now...now, they were just tears. Tears of sadness? Tears of fear? Maybe he would be the last to know.  
  
Another birthday, another month of soul wandering and anguish. Of course, these emotions were something Jim Hawking could never vocalize. Though he had extreme maturity, he just couldn't open up. No one would listen to him anyway. He had remembered the time he had tried to talk to Gene Starwind, his partner, about some problems he had been having. The teen had turned the serious conversation into a big joke. Gene just wasn't the type of person to exactly spill your guts to - Jim had learned that the hard way.  
  
A yawn escaped him, as he stared blankly out into the pouring rain. With each drop of rain, a drop of an old memory fell gently into his mind. Its ripples of sentiment with a dark sensation of pain filled his body without mercy. Sighing, he tapped his finger to the rhythm of the ticking clock that only rested a few feet away from him. He was surprised he was able to find one. They were such ancient things, those ticking clocks. Just as his memories were. To be forgotten and taken advantage of...just as the ticking clock?  
  
He wondered.   
  
Frowning slightly, Jim got out of his chair, and once again looked out of the window. After spending a few moments debating with himself, he shrugged, and made his way to the door. The transition from being dry, and warm, to cold and wet was somewhat hard. Transition was never easy, and Jim knew it first hand. It seemed like yesterday that he had been living with a wonderful family. Gene was a good guy, but still, he would never be able to replace his parents. That hole in his heart would linger for the rest of his life.  
  
He sat upon the curb of the dirty street, which seemed to be consumed by puddles. By now, his blond bangs were sticking to his wet forehead. He was soaked from head to toe. Of course, he had expected that, considering how hard it was raining. Rain was just something he sometimes enjoyed. Gene thought it was stupid to sit out in the rain. But he wasn't Gene, though he sometimes wish he were.  
  
Gene had lost his father long ago, yet he never showed any pain in front of his young partner. Sometimes Jim wondered if Gene even *felt* anything about that. He always laughed at himself, though. Of course Gene felt sorrow for his father's passing. If not pain, or sorrow, then a dull numbness at least, much like himself. That was still something.  
  
After looking up from the wet ground, he began to observe the people passing by. Each person with their own umbrellas, and their own lives. Each coming, each going. No one noticed the sad little boy on the curb. They have their own sorrows, and their own pain. It was funny to Jim, that no one seemed to think about the pain of other people, except of those they were close to. Then again, Gene didn't even seem to notice the pain etched into Jim's eyes.  
  
Startled to feel someone tapping on his shoulder, Jim's eyes widened, as he abruptly turned around. "Woah, Jim. It's me. Not like I'm some stranger coming to kidnap you."   
  
"Aniki, you scared me. Don't do that." Sure enough, there stood Gene Starwind, a tall red head, with a big smile.   
  
"You're out in the rain again?" Inquired Gene, with a slight tone of amusement in his voice.  
  
"Well, yeah," replied Jim, who was irritated with the pointless question.   
  
"Mind if I join you?" Jim's eyebrows shot up. "Yes, no...?" Hiding his surprise, Jim shrugged.  
  
"Do what you want." The next thing Jim knew, Gene was sitting next to him upon the wet curb.   
  
"Geez, this is uncomfortable."  
  
"I'm used to it," said Jim, casually.  
  
"So you come out here all the time." It was a statement, more than a question. Gene glanced at Jim for a brief second, before he began to observe the people that passed by.  
  
"Yeah. I come out here when I feel stressed. Watch the people, play in the water, that sort of stuff."  
  
"Oh, um, okay." Gene looked down at his shoe, as he tapped the puddle. The ripples elegantly swam to the edges of the curb. "Hey, uh, Jim?" Jim's eyes trailed over to his older friend. "You know, you've been a little quiet lately. Is there anything, you like, you know, need to talk about?" Gene was obviously uncomfortable. Then again, he must have felt this issue was important enough to bring up abruptly.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine," replied Jim, a bit more harshly than he had wanted to.  
  
"You sure?" Gene didn't seemed to phased, which relieved Jim very much.   
  
"Just got some stuff on my mind."   
  
"Ah." Gene's tapping grew somewhat louder, as the ripples became more fierce. "It's good to, you know, sit back sometimes."  
  
"You'd be the first to know."  
  
"Hey, I'm just a laid back person. So sue me." Gene smirked as he continued to tap the puddle wtih an absent mind. Jim didn't say anything as he continued to watch the pedestrians. "Walking around in the rain is pretty stupid. I wonder what they're thinking."  
  
"Probably, 'why are those two kids sitting in the rain like that', or 'they're pretty stupid'," replied Jim with annoyance.  
  
"Hey, this whole sitting in the rain was your idea."  
  
"But I didn't make you sit with me." Gene was the one who was silent at that moment.  
  
"Just thought you needed someone to sit with," he finally said.   
  
*So *now* he's concerned,* thought Jim. *A little late for that.* His thoughts were disturbed, as he heard a "splash", and a little more water than usual fell upon his soaked bangs. "Hey!" People who walked by tried to ignore the deep laughter that boomed in the rain. "You splashed me!"  
  
"It...was...an accident!" Gasped Gene, who was still laughing, yet quieter than before. "Besides! It's not like you were dry to begin with! I don't see why you're so mad."   
  
"That's beside the point!"   
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Agh! Forget it!" The boy scowled, as he splashed his older partner with some of the dirty water. "You don't understand *anything*!" Jim was greeted with more water in the face. "Stop it!" He kicked water at Gene again.  
  
"You!" Gene was now kicking and splashing water at poor Jim, and was showing no signs of stopping. Jim's eyes widened slightly at the familiarity of it all. The rain, the pedistrains...  
  
~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Gotchya!" A deep laugh echoed upon the wet streets of the neighborhood, as a tall man with red hair splashed his blond son.   
  
"Hey! I'm wet!" The boy giggled, as he brushed his wet bangs away from his blue eyes.  
  
"You were wet before I splashed you, silly!" Another giggle left the small child.   
  
"I know! But I'm still wet!"   
  
"You're too much, Jim-chan."  
  
"But I'm only four!" The child held up three chubby fingers to prove his point. Another laugh sounded out, but this time, it was accompanied by a child's giggle.  
  
"I love you, Jim-chan."  
  
"I love you, too, Daddy."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Water went everywhere, but it was all in good fun, unlike it had been five minutes ago. Jim seemed unusually happy, but Gene paid no attention to it, as he defended himself as best as he could. That old neighborhood was filled with many people that rainy day. The busy business men and women paid no heed to the teen and child on the curb. They were busy trying to keep their suits and hair dry.  
  
Gene Starwind was much like those business men and women, however. He was aware of Jim, of course. What he didn't see, though, was a single tear roll down his partner's face. He simply couldn't see, much like the strangers around him, beyond the rain.  
  
END  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Um...the whole "beyond the rain" thing was meant to be a metaphor of some sort. What did it mean? I'll leave that up to you. ^_^  



End file.
